We Made It!

by Jim Murphy

July 4, 1997

I'm sitting here at the Jet Propulsion Lab at 1:39 PM PDT,three-and
one half hours after Pathfinder successfully landed on Mars (which is
just way cool to think about !!!), and I'm waiting for our first surface
meteorology data, which we should receive in 26 minutes. This has been
an absolutely terrific day for the spacecraft, and all of us who are
interested in its success. The entry, descent, and landing apparently
went just as designed (at least, that is the present indication), and
we have a functioning spacecraft on the surface.

We'll receive three minutes of surface weather data, obtained at 7
AM local time at the landing site, during the low-gain data downlink
which will begin in 24 minutes. We'll get a temperature measurement
a few centimeters above a solar panel (our mast will not 'stand up'
until 11 AM local time at the landing site. We'll also measure pressure
during this session. We won't measure wind until our mast is deployed.

It is a great day!!! We really do appreciate all the encouragement
and good wishes we have received from all of you !!!